Day 2: Federer v Tipsarević Tennis: World Tour Finals

Welcome to the second day of the Barclays ATP World Tour Final.

Playing today is a man who loves making history and makes a habit of

winning in London. I love playing here. It has worked out well for me

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More history and more records for The hype before the tournament is

something I look forward to every year.

He triumphed at Wimbledon again this year and this week looking for

his 7th victory in this event. At 31, he is trying to prove to the

young guns he is not finished and can finish a strong as everybody.

He is up against Tipsarevic, the world No. 9 and seeded eight here

who has reached the quarter-finals in 14 events. But it is 5-0 in

favour of Federer in their head-to- head. And David Ferrer is up

against a Juan Martin del Potro. Yesterday we saw Andy Murray go

through in three sets against Tomas Berdych in the afternoon. In the

afternoon, Djokovic who be came the world No. 1 yesterday, he came

through in straight sets against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. So they both

made an impressive start this week. The top two from each group going

through. I have top two here with me. Pat Cash and Andrew Castle for

start yesterday, Andy Murray had a shaky start and dropped the opening

set, but Djokovic was very good last night? That was a tough match

for Andy Murray. To come up against Tomas Berdych. Berdych is a big

hitting player. He likes the indoors, and it was always going to

be a tough match. You don't get any easy matches. You don't get a first

or second round to ease into it. It could have gone either way. And

Tsonga and Djokovic, some entertainment in that. There has

been some entertainment out here as well, the doubles is taking place.

Jonathan Marray and Frederik Nielsen had just one. Marray, to

save match. It was a good bits of bravery. They have only won three

matches since they won at at Wimbledon as the wildcard. Also,

Bopanna and Bhupathi. That is a great start. Frederik Nielsen still

thinks he wants to be a singles player, and he is very good. They

have not been together to play much doubles. Last week in Paris, Marray

was with another partner. It is one of the big sports stories of last

year how these two players came together from the work and won the

Wimbledon title. It is incredible. Frederik Nielsen from Denmark is a

very good player. I saw him at the beginning of the year in Perth, it

is like an Australian Open leader tournament. He played Mardy Fish,

had his best year ever. I thought, who is he, he is smashing winners

everywhere. But then he lost his nerve and lost a close match. But

you realise how many good players are out there on the circuit. And

these guys joined up and one or Wimbledon. It was completely lost

among small stories like Bradley winning -- Bradley Wiggins winning

the Tour de France. And Andy Murray reaching the Wimbledon final with

Federer. And a few other bits and bobs besides. For Jonathan Marray

it is tough for him that Frederik Nielsen wants to play singles. But

he has to find a partner because those point will come off. Computer

points stay on for a year. It is a bit like America after the

elections, it will fall off the fiscal Cliff. You ranking for off a

cliff as well. He has been a good doubles player for a long time. And

when they beat the Bryan brothers, it it was amazing. It was a

celebration every time they hit winning shots. What a year they had.

We have one more event to go in this year. Pat, you have been

questioning about the court surface. They are slowing them down and it

seems as though there isn't enough contrast now in the game, to

encourage? This has been going on for years. Tim Henman said in 1998,

I texting before I finish the article in the Sunday Times. I ask

what time it was when he lost in the finals. This tournament used to

be on a fast indoor tennis courts. Boris Becker was dominating, Pete

Sampras was dominating. Andre Agassi did well and Jim Coria did

well. But the weight the surface is made, they bring boards in, link

them together and pains hard court painter on the top of it. The hard

court tournaments, which is the majority of the tournaments, it is

hard court paint. It is Sandy, and it slows the ball down. It is not

so bad, but we are seeing a dying out of contrast of the serve and

volley. We're not seen the likes of Pete Sampras any more. Serve and

volley years are gone. One of the main reasons is this surface. The

ATP needs to look at it, OK we have great players, it is fantastic.

Look at the rallies they have. What about the next bunch of players

coming through? Will we have any contrast? Will we see any serve and

volley? The skill of a volley is high. To get around the net and I

think it is a missing part of the game and a dying part of the game.

Trouble is, we are old enough to remember when Goran Ivanisevic and

the big servers were around and they were making the rallies are

only two or three shots long. People were saying, we have to do

something. They should have made it a medium court. It is some of the

strings as well, it is not just the court. Only the guys out here, we

have seen some fantastic dollies. It is spectacular. We saw Michael

Llodra in Paris last week. Serving and volleying. You can do it, but

it is very difficult. You need a surface that it rewards that,

otherwise we would just see a long driving contest. The matches we

have seen, Djokovic, and Andy Murray, some of the matches we see

are so spectacular. I understand your logic, but you want those

matches gone, these four hour marathons and these classic

encounters. The Australian Open, Andy Murray and Djokovic. They are

classics, we do not want to lose them or stock but that is the final

and semi-final. We are talking about people turning up at these

tournaments and people-watching and they say, they all played the same.

There is no variety. For the benefit of tennis, we cannot lose

her volley, we cannot lose a player that is willing to come forward.

Roger Federer should be able to play for another 20 years by

serving and volleying. But he cannot do that on a slow court.

set yourself up, there are targets either side of you or the lob over

your head. The person at the back of the court he is defending, has a

chance to put the passing shot or lob they want to hit. It used to be

hitting a nice length would be fined. It is very much in the

favour of the base player. Two generations ago it was a Pete

Sampras and the serving and volleying. Some were in the middle

would be nice. A lot of these players are getting so tired, they

are exhausted. It does need to be looked at. It would be nice to have

a balance. Wimbledon has slowed down, the French Open has quickened

up. I'm sure we will talk more about that as the week goes on.

We're looking forward to this match which features Roger Federer. He

has won it six times and bidding to become only the third person to win

it three times in a row. Let's hear from Roger and his thoughts playing

I love playing here. I always believed in plain from January to

November. It has worked out for me over the last few years. I go in

with some pressure, having to defend the title. It is nice to

have qualified in the first place. And I like feeling the hype before

it tournament, it is quite a nice. I like getting around the city.

During Wimbledon, most of the players do stay in the village. We

just focus on tennis. But most of us will be staying in the city and

there is much more around town, promoting the finals. It is kind of

cool being here for the third time this year. Every time it was so

different. Going from Wimbledon to the Olympics, and now at the O2

Arena. It is really nice. I was hoping to be here three times, and

I was going to be healthy and ready to place. That is the case. It is

just around the corner and I hope to play good tennis and hopefully

the fans will enjoy themselves as well. For how pleased are you this

year? Obviously getting the Wimbledon title again. It has been

a particularly good year for you? very good year. I won when I was

sick in Indian Wells, when I was injured in Madrid. I have reached

semi-finals at the time I play, except in Miami. And obviously I

made the finals at the Olympics will stop getting an Olympic silver

medal, which I thought was amazing as well. And winning Wimbledon, and

getting back to world No. 1 was amazing. It has been an overall,

consistent season. I'm not to disappoint I do not finish world No.

1. I am in a different place. My goal was achieved. After looking at

the long term, I would like to stay around for as long as I can. I hope

he stays around for a long time. It is interesting, talking about being

tired for stopping lost the final in Basel? When you have been around

as long as he has and surround yourself with good people, you know

you have to listen to your body. One of the things you do not talk

about with Roger is how few times he has retired. Not only is he a

great athlete, consistent concentration, he does not get

injured. There is a lot to be jealous of! The way he reacted to

Djokovic's grey year last year and then said, -- greater year. He

energised as a reaction to jockeys. There is so much respect in every

single way with Rogers. I enjoy watching him play. And to come back

and win Wimbledon and retake the number-one spot. Everyone was

wondering if his time had gone? thing I find amazing about him, his

consistency clearly. But at the time when other players were

getting on top of him, Rafael Nadal for instance, even Andy Murray was

coming through, Djokovic. He reinvented his game. He said he

would play more attacking from the baseline, his position was more

attacking. He realised, I might and not be as consistent, hopefully I

will be, but when I am red hot, nobody will stop me. I'm getting

the ball back quicker. That was to nullify Rafael Nadal, and it has

given him a bit more life in his career. And this guy, Tipsarevic,

has a task on his hands? He did not know he was going to be here until

last Thursday in Paris. He won a couple of tough matches. He has

earned his place in London. He was fighting to get his spot here. We

will pause, because they are just We are about to find out how much

they love this man. The world No. 2, SUE BARKER: What a welcome. Andrew,

he has a love affair with London. All the fans have a love affair

with Roger Federer? Absolutely right. A lot of people get stuck on

one player or the other. They asked are you a Rafael Nadal fan, a

Djokovic fan, a Federer fan, and Andy Murray fan. I am a fan of all

of them. I am a fan of any player who dares the soul and shows super

of the lady on the court. That is all of them. All I know when

Federer is not here any more, he will be missed. We will probably

say he was the best of all time. Even if he has another four years

left in him like he hopes, he wants to finish in Rio 2016. It is

something to watch him play. Other players have gone into the 30s and

stayed at the top. It is tough in SUE BARKER: I love it when the

umpire says, any questions? How many matches have they played, does

anyone ever ask any questions? They have done it before. Talking about

Roger and how long he can go on. We were sort of writing him off,

wondering if his time had gone at the beginning of this year. And he

has come back and now he has a work ethic that is so strong now, he

wants to get back to No 1. He says he does not care about the No 1

slot, but he does care about it? long as he is fit, and we have all

been at the end of our career. If you are fit and refreshed, you will

keep going as long as you can. He does not want to see Federer

playing? He is different and other players. His style, his finesse and

the way he moves. Remove so effortlessly, we would love to see

him keep going. You are good friends with Martina Navratilova,

reading something about her. I was fascinated, she was winning

everything. You cannot have a perfect game of tennis. There is

always something to work out. The older you get, you think I could be

doing this, I could be doing that. Maybe I could change my training a

little bit. There is always something to tweak. That is what is

interesting against -- about Federer, continually pushing

themselves and raising the bar. was a massive relieved to him to

win a Grand Slam title, win a Wimbledon again. It had been 2.5

years since he had won one. He wanted to prove he could do it it

again. He then went back to world No. 1 and has been No 1 for 302

weeks. That is greedy! The previous record was Pete Sampras at 286. He

considers this to be a big title. We should see Federer in full flow,

a free from the word go. Tipsarevic may have competition. He played an

almost a great match in 2008 in Australia. That is the only time.

Federer has not failed to make a quarter-final at Grand Slam level

since 2004. That is mad! Anyway, he is a player to be enjoyed. I like

the colours of his clothes, it is like a bruise, black and purple.

bit like what you are whirring. -- wearing. Tipsarevic doesn't have

that good a record. It is 5-0 in favour of Federer and that is tough

to overcome question mark often when you pay et -- played a player,

and you don't have much to lose the stock they went all the way, 86 in

the 5th. It caused some issues quit the scheduling. Lleyton Hewitt had

to follow and ended up playing at 4am in the morning. Tipsarevic is a

great shot maker. He can hit the ball hard. And he is not tall, but

he is quick, powerful and has all If he is sharp, and he says he will

be fine. What an inspiration. Look at the year ending rankings.

Suddenly he goes up to the top 10, the biggest rise in the top 10 of

anybody and stays there for year. 13 months ago he won his first

tournament and now he is a star of again. He looks the part. People

will be latching on to him because of his look and his intellect. He

will probably be smashed up today! Let's hear from them, he was

talking about his illness. He arrived with a virus and was caused

to pull out with his quarter-final match with Jerzy Janowicz. To many

tournaments, too many matches, fighting to get to London. It got

to me. I was sick, I had a fever. But now I am feeling better. I have

to admit, I was scared I wouldn't be able to play and perform here.

The quality of players, as always, in London is so high. You need to

be on your top game to even consider having a chance to make

any win here. The opening match against Roger Federer who has won

this title so many times, six times before. Your thoughts on that?

is not the easiest of matches, I will tell you that. But I have

belief that if I am fit enough, and I believe I will be, and I will

play my best tennis, I have a chance to win. Obviously Roger is

probably the biggest champion in this sport, won this tournament

six-times in the past. The pressure is going to be on him. I am not

saying I do not believe in this theory, you have nothing to lose,

but I hope I can handle the pressure.

SUE BARKER: We know he will handle the pressure. It is 80 of match,

obviously. Any match his stuff, but Tipsarevic has to stay with Federer

all along? Obviously, he is happy to get here, he has worked really

hard to get to the finals. Last year he was an ultimate and filled

in when Andy Murray pulled out. This is the first time he has

qualified legitimately. He will be pumped to play Roger Federer in the

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big occasion. All set to go. Head Tipsarevic, 28 years of age.

Federer is 31 years of age now. Rafael Nadal inactive and still

Tipsarevic, from Belgrade in Serbia, electing to receive serve to ease

himself into the match. He lost it. That would have been his thinking

if Federer started slowly for once. Alive atmosphere and Tuesday

afternoon. -- a lively atmosphere. The final is on a Monday. It is an

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Tipsarevic, electing to serve half way along the baseline. Sometimes

he goes down the middle with this One of the reasons to go down the

middle is to get to the Federer backhand. It is not his strongest

side. But he will often go wide and not serve to the backhand. It is

almost deceitful, with the best will in the world. Anything

And if you hit the lines, it's also a lot of problems. -- solves.

Tipsarevic has to play one of the That is a great return. Did not

have that much pace for, but he kept chasing Tipsarevic as he tries

to get round one had to his Good opportunity for the short

forehand. And he missed it. So few opportunities come your way when

you are playing Roger Federer and that was it, that mid-court ball on

At TV personality in her own right, Has she done dancing with the stars,

You did very well. I was impressed. Wow! There you go. The old chip-

charge. Look how effective it is. Safe margin for error, and a

It is tough opposition, playing Federer indoors, isn't it? Doesn't

get any better than this. He lost to del Potro in his own tournament

in Basel. I say his own, he doesn't own it! Tipsarevic is forced to

come in and play, not that comfortable a round him yet, to cut

out the down-the-line shot, but he left well too much of the cross

You cannot expect his timing to be perfect! There are 17,000 people in

the House here, who have never seen Roger Federer play - they will be

No mistake on that short forehand. Bit of luck, of course. That is

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It was a smooth and so rain start for Roger Federer -- serene start.

West find out more. He was talking to Jonathan every a couple of days

ago. What book are you reading? is called Blink. It is about

trusting your first instinct. I prefer to think things through!

you need that on the tennis court. If you do not trust your first

instinct you do not have a lot of time to have second thoughts.

time to have second thoughts, and Tipsarevic has had no had the

chance to have any in the opening 12 minutes. He has been completely

outplayed. He's going to have to think things through. Just go back

to basics, get some good first serves in, keep the ball deep,

Federer's foot work is masterful, but he needs to just try and keep

the ball on to the backhand, where he has trouble generating the pace

that he does on the forehand side, so we cannot hit the winners. -- he

There is that Federer forehand. He very rarely misses. It is one of

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Just about the perfect game. As far as Federer was concerned, he would

only play like that when he has the break of serve, himself, couple of

little experimental shorts, the drop shot, but Tipsarevic moving

well. -- experimental shots. He's APPLAUSE Tipsarevic did his best to

get back into that point with the defensive sliced backhand but some

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of that trademark Federer foot work What was that shot from Federer?

That was unbelievable. The pick-up from happily? He did not have a lot

of time, but look what he does with his racket head. For anyone else

Just to remind you what you are watching, the Barclays world tour

ATP final. There are only eight men here, split into two groups, split

into Group 100 p. And in this particular group, which kicks off

at this eight-day event, you have got the man in the picture, Roger

Federer, Janko Tipsarevic, later on you have got to be that the rare

and 1 Martina del Potro -- David Andy Murray yesterday received a

massive welcome and celebrated by beating Tomas Berdych. Tough group.

They are all tough groups. The other group they are calling the

Group of Death, I would not call this book an easy one. Exactly. It

is a tough first match for Andy Murray, Tomas Berdych is always a

danger. He defeated Roger Federer at the US Open. And he has a short

second set on a forehand and the second set that could have been a

set and a break to him and he missed it by a matter of

centimetres. Andy Murray held on for a good win in the end. It was a

Is it the first time two Serbian players have qualified for the

World Tour finals? They are at tennis power house, runners up in

the Fed Cup in Prague. Last year there were two Serbs. But one of

them pulled out. My guess is yes. It used to be Yugoslavia, of course.

Yes, and when you had even the He is the only player who has

played in this tournament with more Had to go for a winner, there,

Federer's anticipation, and he almost got his racket on it. You're

in big trouble if your opponent gets his racket on it when you are

over the side there. But that was a Almost hopped off the court. His

Hard to believe this man, star of the game, but he only won his first

tournament 30 months ago in: poor. -- 13 months ago in Kuala Lumpur.

That came off the door - 124 miles There is no backing off the

baseline with Federer. Even that big shot a from Tipsarevic did not

push him back. He kept his position and, with a clean hit, was able to

completely wrong to it is important That was one sign that Tipsarevic

did push him back. Good depth, and had to move backwards with the

Tipsarevic, angry with himself there. A couple of very good points.

Good serve with the body, quick Ah! Second serve. Already towelling

Good job, Tipsarevic. Pretty good game from him so far. Good forehand,

lots of work, jumping over Federer's shoulders, hard to

control. The rhythm of Federer's serve, right through his career,

Inch-perfect, wasn't it? That backhand to the line. And that was

Gets to the line this time on that Roger Federer tied on 875 match

wins going into this match. Looking at the likes of Connors, over 1200.

It is amazing. There were some easy matches for the big guys then. And

Laver, you've been doing some research. It is an interesting

debate. You get lots of comments from Federer fans. I have been

doing my individual thing and they don't believe you can say who the

best of all time this, but I put a blog on my website and this is a

sneak preview. Tournaments won, Roger Federer is in a pram tonight

80s, Rod Laver is 200, and the next one is Ivan Lendl at 146, I think.

That has a lot of tennis of wrote their career. -- throughout. There

were a lot of easy first Browne's in those days, local players, but,

not so much these days. -- first He had to win that point three

times, Tipsarevic. Almost it away from Tarmac in the point, then the

smash that he could not quite put away,... He will have learned a

great deal from Novak Djokovic, his friend and countryman, on this one,

That sliced backhand of Federer's has been very successful throughout

his career at tempting players to come forward and go for too much.

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It is a safer shot than the double The tennis balls are only one game

all that this point. He pushed Federer on serve, the last time he

serve. -- served. They get pretty fluffy pretty quickly on these type

of course. They tend to come through the surface when they are

new, but when they are fluffy, five were six games all, they fluff up

and they and at their slowest. -- The rhythm here of his serve, ever

since day one on the circuit, it doesn't matter but it is match

point of the first point of the match or somewhere in the middle.

He has that rhythm, like a top golfer. Ace number four wraps it up.

Just half-an-hour played. Tipsarevic had his moments but he

was ambushed in his first service game and he never really recovered.

6-3. It remains to be seen whether the match will be close. It is good

It was a strong start from Federer with that ponder might break proven

decisive. He is in charge in his opening Group B match. This evening,

David Ferrer, the number four seed up against Juan Martin del Potro.

But you will be able to follow that on BBC Radio 5 Live Sport extra.

Tomorrow, what a treat in store, the M1 air live from 1:45pm on BBC

Two and the BBC hates the Channel - - BBC HD Channel. It is the top two

from each event, each group, that go through to the semi-final and

the final will be played on Monday evening. What a treat to look

forward to tomorrow, Djokovic Now it is Roger Federer up against

Janko Tipsarevic, the 28-year-old Serbian, let's see if he can change

his game enough. He looks a bit lonely sitting there - what would

you say to him? The issue when you are playing the top players like

Federer, there are very few opportunities that come to you at

this level but they will come. He has got to play solid tennis, keep

his first serve, keep the ball deep, and go back to the basics. If

Federer sells and the ace like that there is not much you can do about

it. -- serves an ace. If he hits five winners in the game, then that

That is a good point for Tipsarevic to win. He is acknowledging good

work from himself with a bad shake of the racket. Absolutely vital for

Tipsarevic to hang on to this match. A Mac on in the second set. --

Nice serve. Federer has been successful over the years in just

slicing back the big serve. Float the ball deep and got into the

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Good tennis from Tipsarevic. He has So often players get a chance to be

in front, a big court against Federer. And when they start to get

Getting an idea from below angle. Different pace and spins these

players tried to throw at each other. No greater variety in the

game comes them when you're playing Married in Belgrade. A big

celebrity wedding in 2010 after Wimbledon. Federer, back can

variation is what we are looking at, courtesy of Hawk-Eye. Speed, 74 mph

on the top spin. 50 mph, a third less or 50% less if you look at it

that way, on the slice. You can see where you are trying to hit

different types of rock to get on the backhand slice. Just one

In a circuit that does not have that much variety, spins and slices,

different tactics, Federer is a In terms of sheer pace and changes

of pace, Andy Murray is probably the one who throws the most amount

That one was a little lower than Federer expected. Tipsarevic's

shots are coming through the court Since first fault with that serve

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today come as he has been for the Excellent pattern of play from

Tipsarevic. He is doing his best to think his way through the points.

Twice he tried to roll in short, angled forehand away from the body

to the Federer backhand. And twice Federer knocked his backhand down-

the-line. This is a crucial couple of minutes as Tipsarevic tries to

Tipsarevic is being pushed back behind the baseline. That is where

Federer likes to put his opponent and dictate the play. Tipsarevic

has hit the ball very well. Eventually, Federer in that

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The big reverse forehand started As the courts becomes slower, it

enable us players to do that. Assuming you footwork is quick

enough. I'm not sure you and I He cannot get out of the game yet.

Federer is reeling in his Serbian Fish here. He has to be careful,

Tipsarevic. He doesn't have a big serve to rely on to get himself out

of trouble. He can flatten it out. It might be the time to pull that

That first backhand across court, ball Tipsarevic right out of

position. From there he was on the That was the big serve that you

requested. 121, if it is accurate The little bit of luck from Federer.

Mishit the return. It dribbled over the net and caused Tipsarevic to

come forward. Once the ball gets below the level of the net and is

that close to the net, you cannot hit a much pace on it. If you are

going to push it back, a little bit of back spin and deep is probably

Break. It is a shame. As far as the match is concerned, really. Federer

a set and a break up and cruising. I've been most people in the arena,

which is just about four, would have been looking for Tipsarevic to

hang on a little bit. They have watched an entertaining doubles

match, Marray Ann Frederik Nielsen. They have made a winning start in

the doubles. It looks like Federer is cruising at the moment. But it

could change around. It is only one break of serve. Tipsarevic is

certainly started to get his teeth into that. I thought he was doing

well in the rallies. So a little Those are some of the fans that

travel all around the world supporting Tipsarevic. He is such a

global sport start. Federer, they estimated his earnings, before he

hits a ball each year, he earns over 50 million US dollars. Before

he hits a ball. It puts him in the top five. I think Rory McIlroy is

right up there, having signed an agreement with the same company

that sponsors Roger Federer. You can get some big deals when you are

Which means Roger Federer must love the game. He does love the game. I

don't know if you ever get sick of it, which is incredible. Just about

every player at some stage has got sick of playing tennis. But he

A nice serve-volley. These are the occasions I think Federer would

enjoy to try and serve and volley. Those games goes so quickly with

Federer. Any get into a rhythm and get to the baseline very quickly.

The rule is, the returner has to play at the speed of the server. No

holding him up, no going for the towel, officially. All the players

get away with that a lot. You have The pressure is straight back on

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Tipsarevic, before he knows it, he It is like skimming a stone. Even

That is not going to win too many points. No, but he enjoys doing it.

Similar play worked earlier in the match. Didn't have enough pace on

it. Lots of slice and the ball stopped. Tipsarevic had to create

his own speed. A Federer at the net, UMPIRE: Mr Federer is challenging

the call. Federer misses a short forehand. Begin if he is not

watching the ball, he never misses this. There you go. So much width

and spin on that. I would have missed that. It was going out of

the whole way and then that a massive spin he can get. It can

Great agility from both players. Coming inside the baseline.

Tipsarevic did well to go cross court. That was simple enough, but

he still had to play it, he had to Made a double fault in a similar

UMPIRE: Mr Tipsarevic is challenging the call. There are so

very few opportunities. When you play it a player like Federer, you

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How is that forehand?! Something Was it totally out of the middle?

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Unreal. That was just about Tipsarevic's best rally of the

match. Of the year. We go on about Federer all of the time. We respect

them all, but there is a style and panache in which he plays that it

is actually incomparable. I cannot remember. My grew up loving

watching Ilie Nastase played. Then there was the John McEnroe stuck.

Ilie Nastase was an amazingly gifted player. Then along comes

this man, and a young Australian called Peter Carter, who tragically

died in a car accident. But Federer has just got the most beautiful

style in which to play the game. is a breath of fresh air. There are

so many double handed players. It is nice to see Federer played his

way. It is very elegant. I suppose it wouldn't have stood out as much

a couple of years ago. Turning his shoulders a long way to try and get

the power he needs. Arms both going reverse. He doesn't have the two

hands. He cannot get the pace unless he really swings hard at it

Tipsarevic tried the old reverse. He has got that shot. I don't think

we will see that again. He hits it with the forehand side of the

Good court coverage. Very good serve and volleyer in his own right.

He used to Half-volley serves and follow it in an Trust his own

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Last game before the new balls come out. They get change after seven

and nine games. One more game with the old tennis balls. If Federer is

required to serve for the match, he will be serving with a relatively

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 43 seconds

Full of confidence. Just a quick skip to the side. Tipsarevic's

attempt to jam Federer up with a body serve. It's those body serves

are not hit a perfect, they come Bad luck. Perfectly. -- perfect

Started toying with him a little That shot is such a valuable part

of his game. Is he too young for Janko, toying with his opponent.

Turning things around. Well done. Nice little bluff. Federer was

standing there, then moving forward, to try to cut that angle off, or

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possibly a drop shot match. -- drop CROWD SHOUTS ENCOURAGEMENT. Just

one applet. Federer has won through his entire range of shots. He has a

And that's it, compatible for Federer, he is up and running at

-- comfortable for Federer. It was not a bad effort from Janko

Tipsarevic. He deserves his place mike in this event, number nine in

the world, but no match, today, for Six-times champion at this event,

Federer, and so comfortable on an indoor court, the slow-medium pace

that the score allows him to generate, and to dictate the match

to an opponent. -- that this court. This was the opening match in Group

B. The evening session will draw another full house of 17,500 the

ball for Juan Martin del Potro against David Ferrer, who has won

his last two indoor tournaments, and is not to be taken lightly, and

indeed beat Roger Federer in the final of the reason event -- recent

Federer was all over Tipsarevic and his serve was magnificent. He took

his opportunities. And he has won in straight sets. A great return to

London and the crowd have certainly enjoyed him playing in this

afternoon session. Here is Roger. Welcome back to London and will

come back, fantastic start to your group. It is great to be playing so

well and back in London, third time already this year, the other two

were great experiences so I hope that something similar is going to

happen this week. It is a great atmosphere. And I am happy to play

Tipsarevic, he is a great player, I am sure many of your fans so you

win Wimbledon, you 17 Grand Slam title, how special was that?

Everybody knows how much I care about Wimbledon. It was obviously

amazing, winning again, back to ward No. 1 in the process, it was a

dream come true for any tennis player, and I had a great year,

great summer, and I gave everything I had, and then to get sober as

well, a few weeks later was amazing, too. -- to get the silver medal as

I hope that I can keep it up. have obviously won this title more

than anyone, six times, you have more match victories in this

tournament, you just surpassed Ivan Lendl - was there any record that

you do not have that you want? cannot go back in time, you know? I

was a good junior. There are many things I cannot do, but I am happy

how well my career has gone and in some ways I would have loved to win

a Grand Slam very young like Boris Becker did, but it is just how it

goes sometimes in your career, sometimes, you only get one chance,

I work extremely hard, it has been a great career, and hopefully I

have got some more left in the tie. You will be back here another

couple of times at least, we look forward to it. A thank you very

much. Great ovation for a great champion. Roger Federer saying that

he would like to win a Grand Slam when he was younger, he certainly

made up for it later on. His timing and shot making was exquisite. I

know that Tipsarevic was suffering with a virus before it, but Roger

Federer was just Supreme. The other group match, did it rare up against

Juan Martin del Potro. -- David Ferrer. He will be able to follow

that live on BBC Radio 5 Live Sports extra. We will be back on

BBC Two and the BBC HD Channel for this match, Djokovic against Murray

in their group match. Looking forward to that. Let us reflect on

what we have just seen. Tipsarevic has been suffering with a virus but

he could not have done anything today, if he was fully fit, because

Federer was awesome. The played very well, particularly in the

second set, he lost a couple of long, close games, but there was

much so few opportunities for him win Federer is serving that well.

Towards the end he found his rhythm and he was serve-volleying, doing

all the things that he loved to see Roger Federer doing, so it really

was a masterclass. What can you do, in that case? From the very first

point, we knew that he meant business. Most people play

themselves in over the course of two got three games in a match, and

this is in the second game. There is so much variety that comes from

Federer. He has won this tournament six times in total. I just do not

know how you construct a game-plan to play against him. I love this

one, that shot was so hard to play. If he ever takes up squash, he's

going to be a demon at that, as well! He began to experiment, such

was his belief in himself, playing himself into form, as soon as he

gets his man of the court, he has to recover to get back to the

middle and Federer goes back down the line. He won 95% of his first

serve, what are you going to do? We're going to go back out on court,

where there is a special presentation taking Culdrose to

Novak Djokovic. -- taking place. For the second successive year, at

When I said it was a special presentation, it is to announce at

that he is a world No. 1, finishing the year as world No. 1 and it is a

double celebration, getting the Arthur Ashe Award for all the

humanitarian work that he does for I want to go back as much as I can.

It is a unique opportunity for us to represent Serbia. He went on to

reach another nine finals winning The recipient of the Arthur Ashe

humanitarian award is a 2012 world Obviously it has been an incredible

year, not only the world No. 1 total but also the prestigious

Arthur Ashe humanitarian ward for all the work you have done on

behalf of UNICEF and with your foundation. Novak, congratulations.

Thank you very much. Thank you all four staying and sharing this

precious moment with me. It is a huge honour once again to receive

this beautiful award, to come back here to London makes me very happy

and also, throughout the season, many players, especially those

taking part in this finale of the season are fighting for the

strawberry, so, it is an incredibly satisfying feeling and I could not

be happier, right now, so the journey doesn't end here, and

hopefully myself and my team will have an opportunity to fight for

this trophy once more. One more big round of applause for not only the

world No. 1, but the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award, the world No. 1,

Novak Djokovic! A very proud man, Novak Djokovic, and two prestigious

awards. Been world No. 1 knees so much to him. He will have to wait

until the final week of 2012 to regain the top spot from Roger

Federer pistol it away after winning the Wimbledon championship

in the summer. I know that's they say they do not care about rankings,

but they do. To be No. 1 at the end of the year two years in a row,

only 10 players have done it before. Three out of four Grand Slams. It

looked like he might be going into the French Open with a chance to

win four in a row, and at that stage that was incredible. He had a

quiet patch in the middle but overall he has been incredibly

consistent this year, yet again. A couple of years ago I was a

wandering, thinking he was levelling out, potentially going on

the slide, he had a hitch, this and that, but boy, two years later, he

becomes a world No. 1 for two years in a row. And his coach of many

years and confident and adviser, we are always asking for one per the

line, what has made the difference, and we always think it is something

magical, but it is just hard work. Even when he was world No. 3, he

continued to work, and now the Future rivalry seems to be Murray

and Djokovic. The match that we are going to see tomorrow afternoon

between Murray and Djokovic, these two how each other every time they

play, it does not matter where, under what conditions, when they

play together they clang. And it is a nice match to watch. He had

changed his diet, Novak Djokovic. He was getting all sorts of ailment

Plummer. He is on a gluten free diet. He has a very long neck and

he would wrote like a giraffe, and you would think, is he going to

survive? -- droop. He was the first gluten free grand slam champion.

And he's one of the most flexible players in the world. I have seen

him do things that only Darcy Bussell can do. He is an

unbelievable athlete. And, Andy Murray very much the same, the

training that he does in Miami, taking the game to new levels. It

is a very physical game. The courts are slow, the rallies are getting

longer, they are able to get more shots back, pushing it the whole

time. You can see how Rafael Nadal's knees have, not exploded,

but you can see how he had some the problems, and some other guys have

not. All of the shot-making and the titles that he has won, has

consistency and not to be injured, it is absolutely phenomenal. I was

injured a lot. I trained as hard as anybody. I believed I was the put

his player in the world, but I got injured -- the fittest player. And

I could not stay on the court. And these guys are doing this on the

court of five hours, day after day, four years on end. I am not

surprised sometimes they might need a year off, and fingers crossed

that Rafael Nadal will come back. Now that Murray is reaching his

peak, the have four players all blending well together in aspire as

they might do not like playing each other, and it's sort of mixes up if

the match at their best. And you have got Berdych and del Potro and

Ferrer, who can be there for five hours, it is a great bunch of good

players, once we get Rafael Nadal back. Fingers crossed that we can.

His camp are not saying much. would have been the thing to come

back. The indoor court does not suit him very much, the Australian

Open is what they must be aiming for added a bit of luck we will see

him back there, but rushing back is not the answer. It will be

Australia, it will be six months since he played. I we still have

him as the favourite for the French Open, on the clay service, no

matter what. Even if you only start practising the week before. It is

interesting that you mentioned David the rare, he is a forgotten

man, but he is in form -- David Ferrer. Here he is in the world

finals again, he has got the Davis Cup. He could be the number one man

in the Davis Cup, without Rafael Nadal to rely on. He is a little

guy, he can run all day, he continually works on his game. He

is a danger. He will never give you a point. He won in Paris last year

over the Polish qualifier, and this is what it means the him. This was

his first Masters 1,000 on the ATP Tour, that was last Sunday. He has

got the latest possible start, Tuesday night after that, and he

has got to do it again. His last opponent was 6 ft 8, and the next

opponent, his 6.5 added, whatever del Potro is. He is an unbelievably

tenacious competitor. People should not feel like they might have not

got a poor deal, not seen one of the big four, David Ferrer is a

good player, and able to break into that top war situation. After del

Potro came back after injury, I thought he was begging to get right

back into the top four, but it has not quite happened. It has taken

time. Injuries have taken their toll. Coming here and playing, and

what he did, del Potro, when he got in trouble, most players would go

back and start playing say, but he's hitting the ball harder and

harder. It was fascinating to see. It looked like he was going to be

number one in the world. There is nothing that he cannot do, he can

serve big, he is the hardest hitting player in the world, he's

going to be number one, we thought, then he got that this injury, but

now he seems to be coming back into form. He beat Federer in Basel the

other week. And he has lost to Federer so many times, in so many

big matches including semi-finals of the Olympics, at 17-15 in the

third set, then he beat Federer, that is another step up as he

climbs back. I think he trusts his wrist and he's ready to do some

damage. Somebody from that second six players, has to emerge. It

could well be him. He has got the tools. Tomorrow of course we have

Novak Djokovic against Andy Murray. Andy Murray had a very interesting

summer. He was in tears on Centre Court when he lost to Federer, and

then a few weeks later the crowd were on his feet as he won the

Olympics. At the Olympics, the It was very different to the

Wimbledon final. It was an incredible experience, personally.

As a sports fan, it was so good, I watched was of the other sports and

they did a great job at the Olympics and the Paralympics. It

has been a very good year for me Has the US Open title victory sunk

in, yet? I think it has. I have not had much time to enjoy it or think

too much about it because you're playing tournaments 10 days after

it, after I got back from New York, so I am sure that at the end when I

can take a couple of weeks of I can relax and think about the last few

months. I cannot remember that much about that week, that much about

the match, only the last game of the match against Djokovic. I can

hardly remember any of the match. I was obviously very focused. When

you're in the zone like that, having all those people they are

supporting you, it was great. I am glad that I managed to finally do

it. It was an incredibly long match but the margins are so small

between the four of you - do you feel like you're part of that now

that you have got an Olympic and Grand Slam title? I Always just

tried to keep improving. I have won over the years a lot of times

against Roger and against Novak. And the final thing to do is to do

it consecutively in Grand Slams and it was nice to finally do it, so

that I can move on to the second part of my career, were I can focus

and try and win another one. The number one spot Mac is not my main

goal, the next major focus would be the Australian Open. That is a few

months away. That is the next tournament to train for an build up

for. If you get to number one in the world, through winning the

major competitions and beating the best players in the world, so I

will focus on the Australian Open You cannot imagine the relief it

must be for Andy Murray to finally win a Grand Slam title and finally

get good of that. Absolutely. It is massive. I saw him in the locker

room after the Wimbledon final and it was a great final, Federer

played brilliantly, Andy Murray was a little unlucky with the River

Open, whatever, but Roger Federer won it fair and square. He looked

very dejected. I said, you're going to win one-day, don't worry. And he

kind of mumbled. Fair enough. Three months later, he has won the

Olympic gold, Olympics silver and the US Open. I could not help but

give him a hug the other day. Well done, mate, that is unbelievable.

And he said there was not much she could remember about that five-and-

a-half hour match, but he's going to go and do it again. He almost

hallucinate in those situations. Over five sets particularly, the

emotional stress of those situations, the mind does

gymnastics. He should play the tape and remind himself, because he had

to dig deeper than ever in that first set. And he deserves it. That

is a thing about it. When he took the microphone from you at

Wimbledon, he does not know how much danger he was in, never take

the microphone of Sue Barker! time you look at me I would put the

microphone up and he went again. was as if he was holding on to

something. He tried to speak and then he couldn't. I kept saying,

take your time, take your time, I knew that he wanted to say

something and everybody wanted to hear what he had to say, and he won

a lot of fans that they, but talking about tomorrow, it is

1:45pm on BBC Two and the BBC HD Channel, Djokovic against Murray. I

know that it is a group match and it is not be end of the world, but

how do you see this one? These guys, these two are going to be up there

for a while, and every match means something to them. At this stage of

their career. Both want to push for No. 1 and hold on to number one.

Pick a winner! I am not going to pick a winner! Andy Murray! Novak